Printmakers You Should Know: Dox Thrash

If there's anything I've learned from Printmakers You Should Know, it's that I'll always be discovering new artists that I'd wished known about sooner. Case in point, Dox Thrash (1893-1965).

Dox Thrash, Harmonica Blues, 1937-1938, etching. Image courtesy of http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa103.html

Born and raised in Griffin, Georgia in a former slave cabin, Thrash left school after the fourth grade in order to focus on drawing. He left home at the age of 15, working a variety of odd jobs that included circus performance and vaudeville, among other things.

Dox Thrash, Intermission, n.d. etching, image courtesy of  http://www.artnet.com/artists/dox-thrash/intermission-A6lvG3064x3JIN73lKpBBw2

By 1911, he had made his way to Chicago, working as an elevator operator during the day while taking classes at the School of the Art Institute at night. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, he enlisted as a private in the all-black 365th Infantry Regiment, 183rd Brigade, 92nd Division, known as the Buffalo Soldiers. Although he suffered a gas attack and subsequent shell shock in 1918, he returned to civilian life and resumed taking art classes in 1919. During the 1920s he lived in Boston, Connecticut, and New York during the height of the Harlem Renaissance before settling permanently in Philadelphia in 1926.

Dox Thrash, Sunday Morning, 1939, etching. Image courtesy of  http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/dox-thrash-1893-1965-sunday-morning-25-c-4b30f4b85a

Thrash began achieving artistic acclaim through his graphic design skills, creating the poster for the Second Annual National Negro Music Festival in 1930, held at the National Academy of Music. He also became a member of the Graphic Sketch Club to study printmaking with Earl Horter. By 1933, he was exhibiting prints at the YWCA on Catharine Street in Phildelphia, and in 1937, he joined the the Fine Print Workshop of Philadelphia, a branch of the Federal Art Project. Here is where he would really leave his mark as a printmaker, both through his compositions and technical innovations.

Dox Trash, Linda, 1940-1941, lithograph, image courtesy of http://www.artnet.com/artists/dox-thrash/linda-a-E9agmWMgvtRPgWCyoG-yig2?

What Thrax discovered was that carborundum, an abrasive used to refinish lithographic stones, could also be used to roughen copper plates as a faster, more efficient alternative to the laborious mezzotint. Prized for their deep, velvety tones, mezzotints are extremely time-intensive to prepare, as the entire surface must be covered with tiny dots that are then scraped away with burnishers to create lighter values. Carborundum could achieve a similar effect in a much shorter amount of time, and artists soon began applying the abrasive to their plate. Thrash's intaglio prints, however, known as carborundum prints, would remain standouts in the medium.

Dox Thrash, Before the Curtain, 1941-1942, carborundum mezzotint and etching, image courtesy of http://www.dolanmaxwell.com/artists/thrash/dtImage3.php

Dox Thrash, Cabin with Star in Window, 1944-1945, carborundum mezzotint, proof touched with ink, image courtesy of http://www.dolanmaxwell.com/artists/thrash/dtImage1.php

Dox Thrash, Charlotte, 1938-1939, carborundum mezzotint, image courtesy of  http://www.dolanmaxwell.com/artists/thrash/dtImage2.php

In keeping with the FAP's desire to produce a positive, optimistic art for a beleaguered nation, Thrash created several patriotic prints such as Defense Worker and Shipfitters, works that highlight the dignity of manual labor, and more specifically that of black workers.

Dox Thrash, Defense Worker, 1941, carborundum print, image courtesy of https://www.pinterest.com/l1ljw/dox-thrash/

Dox Thrash, Shipfitters, 1941, aquatint, image courtesy of  http://www.artnet.com/artists/dox-thrash/shipfitters-vuf8_OLRlXac5q-AXnMQFw2

These latter works in particular were created in response to the United States' defense effort, as World War II was well underway. Nevertheless, even an artist as renowned as Thrash was not immune to institutional racism, as he was denied an insignia painting job with the Civil Defense sector. He eventually found work with the Sun Ship Company, and after the war became a house painter through the Philadelphia Housing Authority. He continued creating and showing his work until his death in 1965.

Dox Thrash, Siesta, ca. 1944-1948, carborundum mezzotint, image courtesy of  https://www.pinterest.com/l1ljw/dox-thrash/

Thrash's prints covered a range of subject matter, depicting everything from shanties to sensuous female nudes. His works confronted America's conflicted race relations, but also celebrated blackness itself. He unflinchingly made black poverty one of his recurring subjects, but also underscored the value of black labor. In short, he made the American black experience his subject, with all its difficulties and opportunities, at a time when the general public's perception of blackness was still shaped by stereotypes such as Aunt Jemima and the happy slave. His intaglio works, with their rich tones and bold compositions, are refined and confident. Through the mezzotint-like qualities of carborundum printing, he made prints that celebrate the beauty of blackness itself.

Dox Thrash, Bronze Boy (Second Version), ca. 1937-1938, carborundum mezzotint, image courtesy of  http://www.artnet.com/artists/dox-thrash/bronze-boy-second-version-q-yJVFZrCGLumTPVmlBZZg2

He is definitely a printmaker you should know.

Learn more here:

http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa103.htm

https://www.philamuseum.org/doc_downloads/education/ex_resources/doxThrash.pdf

http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/dox-thrash-inventive-artist